Cool Sheets and Empty Spaces
by Edgechick816
Summary: (post Not Fade Away) Buffy goes to LA to get Angel back, but finds it more complicated than she’d expected. BA, SFa
1. Sparring

Title: Cool Sheets and Empty Spaces  
  
Author: Rachel  
  
Email:  
  
Pairings: B/A, A/N gags, S/Fa  
  
Disclaimer: Joss owns everyone, I own nothing. I'm simply taking them out to play with.  
  
Distribution: Ask please  
  
Rating: A slightly smutty PG13 (for now anyway)  
  
Spoilers: Everything, post-Not Fade Away.  
  
Notes: Set a year after Not Fade Away in the summer of 2005. Illyria is dead. Wes and Gunn are alive hugs Wes muse, and they're back working out of The Hyperion. Also, Faith has joined the AI team and Connor is staying with them over the summer.  
  
Notes 2: If you like Nina (I can't imagine how you could), this is probably not the fic for you.  
  
Notes 3: Thanks a bunch to Kristi for helping me out with this and listening to me ramble on analyzing character for hours.  
  
Summary: Buffy goes to LA to get Angel back, but finds it more complicated than she'd expected.  
  
Feedback: Is loved and much appreciated :)  
  
Dedications: To all the B/A shippers, for never giving up. And to all the Spike/Faith shippers, who never have enough fics.  
  
She ducked a punch, spinning around and nailed her assailant with a kick. She grinned as he slammed back into a wall and swiftly went back on the offence. This vamp was fast, but she was faster. He ran at her, she grabbed his arm, tossing him into the opposite wall. This time he didn't get up so easily. The vamp brought his knees to his chest, shoving his feet into the slayer's chest, cutting off any attack while sending her to the ground and on landing her butt with a thump. She got up quickly, glaring at her opponent. He did his best to not smile knowing it would only piss her off more, but it was hard, she was so dammed cute when she got like this.  
  
She let loose a fury of kicks and punches, blocking his shots while still trying to get her own in, finally able to knock him in the gut, then over the head, sending him to ground. She pulled the wooden object from her waistband and went for the kill. The vamp reached and took a hold of her ankle and yanked it from under her. In a burst of preternatural speed, he climbed on top of her prone body, clamping his knees around her hips and holding her arms over her head, effectively pinning her to the floor. She twisted and writhed beneath him, bucking her hips against his, trying anything to get free, in the process unconsciously baring her neck to him.  
  
He shook his head her attempts to get free, it might have worried him had he not known she wasn't actually trying that to escape him. With a grin he couldn't repress he slipped out of gameface.  
  
"Ya know, Pet, the point of the exercise is to not to get caught by the big, nasty vampire."  
  
"Bite me," Faith snapped, knowing the full implication of her word. Her submissive position did nothing to curb her attitude.  
  
"Now, now, you should never invite a vampire to bite you." He chided. She was already mad as hell, he should know better than to engage this, but what could he say? Thinking things through was Peaches' deal. "But since you did ask; where would you like it, love?"  
  
"Here," she smiled sweetly, jutting her hips up and grinding them against his.  
  
He groaned, involuntarily. "Now that," he smirked, thrusting hips at hers. "is something I can work with."  
  
"Really?" She smirked dangerously. Before he realized what happening, he was being flipped on his back, arms pinned over his head and a very lovely slayer sitting on top of him. "Can you work with this?" she asked, rolling her hips against him.  
  
"Anyway you want it." he grinned. She leaned down, claiming his lips in a dominant gesture. He simply lay back, enjoying the onslaught. Her tongue darted out against his lips, requesting entrance, which he granted, taking the opportunity to suck on her bottom lip, grazing his teeth on the inside of it. She moaned softly into his mouth and eased her grip on his wrists, the blunted stake she held clanking to the ground. He brought a hand free, taking it and running his fingers across the bare skin on the small of her back. She moaned again. Releasing his wrist altogether, she combed one hand through his hair and lowered the other to her side, resting her full weight on his chest.  
  
He smiled against her lips, loving the reactions he could get from her. Using his free arm he propped them up, making sure the other was around her waist to keep her from falling. He pulled away from her, smirking at her swollen lips and her panting breathes. He reached up and tucked a loose strand from her ponytail behind her ear, passing a thumb over her lipstick free mouth. Not to say he was knocking the dark eyes and red lips, because frankly, it's sexy as hell, but there was something about seeing her like this; sweaty, panting with no makeup on. She looked much younger, and in his humble opinion, much lovelier. A smack on his arm brought him back to reality.  
  
"Ow, what the bloody hell that for?"  
  
"You cheated, you're going to pay for that." she told him, her bottom going out in a pout. He had no idea if she'd done the by accident, or just to drive him insane.  
  
"I certainly did not. If I recall rightly, pet, it was you who started it."  
  
The brunette rolled her eyes. "These aren't the slums of England Willy, you know it was unfair from the start."  
  
"You're the bloody slayer, I just work here. I'll have you know I've never cheated at anything, well except for that one time— Hey!" he said, finally catching her earlier words. "I've never been to an English slum in my unlife! Even demons have enough sense not to hang out there."  
  
"Hmm, I figured it'd be a big ring of demons."  
  
"Nah, ya'd have to be out of your gourd to go down there. There are a few demons the run the joint, but it's mostly humans trying to make a buck. Food's not very tasty. Or so I've heard." he finished quickly at her arched eyebrow. "Why the hell am I talking about England when I have a very sexy slayer on top of me?"  
  
She sat up high in his lap, bringing her breast to his eyes level. "You tell me." she purred. He pulled her down, kissing her soundly on the mouth. His hand slid up the back of her shirt. Damn, sports bra, the thing was harder to get off than an ink stain, but not nearly as hard as a corset, those were a bitch to get under.  
  
The rumbling of a deep male voice clearing his throat brought the dark slayer back down to earth. Faith ducked her head away from the man on the stairs, burying it in Spike's shoulder. While she continued to nip at his neck, the bleached blonde felt a blush heat her cheeks and even with the steps mostly to his back, he knew that there was only one being on the planet that could make Faith blush, well aside from him of course.  
  
"What do you want Peaches?" Spike groaned. The brunette has stopped kissing him and was merely hiding there, breathing in his coolness, her hot breath tickling his skin.  
  
Angel rolled his eyes at his grandchilde. He told him before not to make out in the training room, he had been sure that Spike would have thrown his training session with Buffy back in his face, but to his surprise he'd stuck to unspoken rule of not mentioning the blonde slayer's name and simply gone the route of ignoring what he said. Deciding that it wasn't really worth saying anything about since A) It was Spike and he'd be disregarded anyway and B) They were Family and family did things that annoyed you. He got to the point.  
  
"There was a demon attack in Chinatown; I'm taking Connor with me to check it out."  
  
Spike shifted around so he could look at the other vampire. "And you're tellin' us this 'cause?"  
  
"Because I have a training session with Nina and I wanted Faith to cover for me." Angel said.  
  
At this, the dark haired slayer's head shot up, "What! No way, I am not takin' Barbie wolf in for training." Faith said. She loved Angel, he was family, took her in when no one else would. She'd do anything for him, except this. Even back when she and B were enemies her sister slayer wasn't nearly as annoying as the blonde werewolf.  
  
Angel sighed; he knew this wasn't going to be easy. He sent a pleading look in Spike's direction, but the blonde vamp shook his head. "Sorry Sunshine, you're on your on this one." he said with a smirk. His feelings for the werewolf ran along the same line as Faith.  
  
The dark vampire glared at his childe before turning his attention back the slayer. "Faith–"  
  
"Get someone else to do it." she told him, climbing out of Spike's lap and cutting off whatever he was going to say. She knew she sounded harsh, but there were very few non-evil things in the world that made her want to kill again and Nina Ash was at the top the list; followed by the government and chicks with breast implants.  
  
"I can't. Connor's going with me, Wes is researching and Gunn isn't in yet."  
  
"Fine, cancel it, or don't. I don't care. All I know is that I'm not doing it." she said, her tone leaving no room for argument, but still he pressed on.  
  
"Faith," Angel started; a warning tone in his voice,  
  
"Somebody's in trouble," Spike chided, only to be promptly smacked upside his head by Faith. He glared, but was silenced.  
  
Angel took a moment to observe the two; it had been a long time since he'd seen someone with any control of his grandechilde. Dru had been the last, and that seems like a lifetime ago, which in a way, it was. It was back before Spike had a soul. Before Sunnydale had become California's newest crater. Before he and Buffy knew the danger of their love. With a mental shake of his head, he got back to the matter at hand.  
  
"She's only been here a few weeks and she hasn't been trained before. She needs to know how to fight; missing a session isn't conducive to that. How would you feel if something happened to her knowing you could have helped?"  
  
'Oh no, he did not (in his roundabout cryptic way) just play the redemption card over wolf bitch.' "Fine," Faith practically snarled, "I'll do it."  
  
Angel nodded, then turned on his heels and went back upstairs. He didn't say thanks or tell her to be nice. With Faith you got what you got, and when it came to Nina, it wasn't always the nicest thing. Besides, what was the point of pleasantries when they were just going to fight about it later?  
  
Spike stood up behind Faith, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He smirked when she jumped at the contact. "I'm gonna go watch the telly, I think Passions is on." Almost before he finished speaking, he was being thrown over Faith's shoulder before landing flat on his back.  
  
"You go up and watch TV and I swear you will never be with me or any other woman again."  
  
The vampire grinned as he sat up. He'd come to take that particular threat as Faith's version of 'Don't leave me alone'. So he stood up and took a seat at the base of the steps, watching his lover work out on the punching bag. With any luck, this would make up for missing Passions.  
  
Hell, there might even be bloodshed.  
  
A/N: The next chapters probably won't be as long, but who knows? Lol. Review me. 


	2. To LA, With Love

Title: Cool Sheets and Empty Spaces  
  
Author: Rachel  
  
Email:  
  
Pairings: B/A, A/N (gags), S/Fa  
  
Disclaimer: Joss owns everyone, I own nothing. I'm simply taking them out to play with.  
  
Distribution: Ask please  
  
Rating: A slightly smutty PG13 (for now anyway)  
  
Spoilers: Everything, post-Not Fade Away.  
  
Notes: Set a year after Not Fade Away in the summer of 2005. Illyria is dead. Wes and Gunn are alive (hugs Wes muse), and they're back working out of The Hyperion. Also, Faith has joined the  
  
AI team and Connor is staying with them over the summer.  
  
Notes 2: If you like Nina (I can't imagine how you could), this is probably not the fic for you.  
  
Notes 3: Thanks a bunch to Kristi for helping me out with this and listening to me ramble on, analyzing character for hours.  
  
Summary: Buffy goes to LA to get Angel back, but finds it more complicated than she'd expected.  
  
Feedback: Is loved and much appreciated :)  
  
Dedications: To all the B/A shippers, for never giving up. And to all the Spike/Faith shippers, who never have enough fics,  
  
Rome, Italy.  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" The Slayer resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She viewed the man in front of her more like a Father than anything else, which probably had something to do with her annoyance at the moment.  
  
"Yes Giles, I'm sure. It's not like I haven't done it before." She did have a point. She'd done similar transactions with him and several times without him, as had Willow and Xander. He had wanted them to be able to handle the business. Willow had designed the Council's entire computer system. Xander chosen and designed all the offices and all three had gone to retrieve new Slayers. It certainly wasn't that she could handle it.  
  
Nevertheless...  
  
"Buffy, I'm sure there are other things that require your attention." Her jaw twitched as she clenched it. He could tell she was about two questions away from screaming.  
  
"This requires my attention," she told him, the annoyance seeping into her voice. They'd been having this 'discussion' for the last hour, even since she walked through the door and told him she wanted the LA job. "Last time the training room was all screwy, it took a month and half to get it fixed."  
  
The Watcher sighed as he thought of the New York debacle. He couldn't figure out how they ended up with hula-hoops and ribbons; they looked more like party favorite than training equipment. Or why Stevens even signed for it. "Yes, well..." he took his glasses off and began cleaning them, "I'm sure Neil will do a better job."  
  
He replaced his glasses and watched her, her jaw twitched again. Once.... Twice...  
  
"Neil! You wanna send him? He has the IQ of a lawn dart!" she shouted. Neil was young, naive and very much into the 'old' style Watcher's Council, he reminded her a bit of Wes when she first met him. He was one of the few who objected to the new regime, even tried to petition members of the old Council to come back and 'run things right.' In the end, it failed and why Giles had brought him as young Watcher along with Andrew, both were still a mystery to her. Not to mention, Neil had this way of looking at her that was just....eww.  
  
"Buffy–"  
  
"Don't you dare 'Buffy' me! Even if you aren't going to let me go, you sure as hell aren't going to send him! Speaking of, why don't you want me to go? You've spent all this time trying to talk me out of it, you have yet to tell me why. What are you afraid of? That I'm going to uncover your dark secrets?" The last part was snippy and she knew it, but right now she didn't care. All she wanted to do was be helpful and he was jumping all over her. She had no ulterior motives, nothing that involve a tall, dark broody vampire that just happened to live in LA. This had nothing to do with him.  
  
Nope, not a thing.  
  
Giles looked stunned for a moment; but relaxed almost immediately; she didn't seem suspicious, just annoyed and simply Buffy. With a mental shake, he searched through the papers on his desk as he considered his next words. He knew it would hurt her, but he was only protecting her as any Father would his Daughter.  
  
"Angel is involved with someone."  
  
Shock formed on her face, but not from the news; a little birdie told her about that months ago. Okay, so it was a busty slayer who's doing it with one of her former's.  
  
Details.  
  
After Sunnydale, her contact with the other Slayer started based on Slayer business; finding the new girls who were old enough to be trained, major surges of demon activity. Then Faith moved back to LA to help Angel Investigations fight the good the good fight, which was able to so since Willow had gone through the LAPD's system and made it so Faith was no longer an wanted criminal.  
  
What surprised her was that Giles knew, she didn't he'd spoken to anyone in LA since before she blew up Sunnydale. "How did you find that out?"  
  
"It irrelevant," he sighed, he didn't think she'd take Andrew as a reliable source. He wasn't sure he thought Andrew was a reliable source, but was the only one he had. "I just don't want you getting hurt."  
  
She softened at his concern. "I'm not going to get hurt; Angel and I are of the past." 'Or at least we are till we're of the future.'  
  
He pinched the bridge of his nose, if he didn't give in soon she was likely to think something amiss, and there certainly was not.  
  
No, not a thing.  
  
"You do realize the amount of work this would entail?"  
  
Buffy squealed and leaned over to hug Giles, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I swear you won't regret this."  
  
"Let's hope not." he said, as she hugged him tighter, "Buffy...breathing's becoming an issue."  
  
"Sorry," Quickly, she let go and sat back in her chair, putting on her best business posture, but unable to keep the smile off her face.  
  
"The location is set and has Xander's approval. You'll need to oversee the minor repairs, the delivery of various equipment, and furniture. The delivery dates are all in here, along with other relevant information." He handed her a half-inch thick, light blue folder. "You can change and re-order things as you see fit." He gave her a wary look, before giving her the credit card. "This is for Council purchases only." She stuck her tongue out, putting the card in her purse. "Now, there one bedroom in the building that's already set up for you."  
  
She bit her lip as she flipped through the file. She could do this, this was the easy part; the part with Angel and begging him to take her back was going to be a little harder.  
  
"What time's my flight?"  
  
"Uh, tomorrow night at 7:30 pm, you should arrive in LA some time in the afternoon. I'll have the plane tickets waiting for you."  
  
She nodded, standing up and hugging Giles again, "I won't let you down." she promised.  
  
He hugged her back; the act had become less awkward over the years. "Ah yes, well, you better get packing."  
  
"Will do," she smiled and left the room. 'Phase one of getting Angel back: complete.' she thought with a tiny smile. She need to home and start packing, she also had a very important phone call to make.  
  
A/N: Review, it's makes the musey happy. ;) 


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